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How to Stop Overspending at Target: Decluttering + Boundaries That Actually Work with Emily McDermott | 539

33 min
Mar 13, 20263 months ago
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Summary

Emily McDermott, host of Mom's Overcoming Overwhelm, discusses decluttering strategies and intentional spending habits to help women stop overspending at retailers like Target. The episode explores the psychological motivations behind impulse shopping, the container concept for managing possessions, and how decluttering homes, minds, and hearts are interconnected.

Insights
  • Overspending at stores like Target is often driven by seeking a specific experience or emotional control rather than actual product need, requiring awareness of motivations to break the cycle
  • The 'container concept' — setting artificial boundaries on categories of items based on personal capacity to manage them — is more effective than purchasing organizing bins, which can enable clutter accumulation
  • Visual clutter directly impacts stress and cortisol levels; clearing surfaces and reducing volume provides immediate psychological relief and creates space for intentional decision-making
  • Separating money into designated spending buckets with clear boundaries gives people agency and control, reducing impulse purchases by making spending intentional rather than reactive
  • The pause between stimulus and response is critical; lengthening this gap allows prefrontal cortex decision-making instead of reactive 'downstairs brain' responses driven by dopamine-seeking
Trends
Growing consumer awareness of the psychological manipulation in retail store design and merchandising, particularly targeting women and mothersShift from minimalism as aesthetic trend to minimalism as stress-reduction and intentional living strategy, especially post-pandemicIntegration of decluttering and financial wellness as complementary practices rather than separate disciplinesIncreased focus on capacity-based decision-making rather than guilt-based or aspirational approaches to organizing and spendingRise of experience-based shopping triggers and the need for boundary-setting strategies in omnichannel retail environmentsEmphasis on teaching children financial and organizational decision-making through practical constraints and choice-makingConnection between identity shifts (motherhood, career changes, life stages) and the emotional weight of possessions
Topics
Impulse buying psychology and retail trigger identificationContainer concept for decluttering and organizingIntentional spending and budget bucket systemsTarget shopping habits and overspending patternsEmotional clutter and identity shifts in motherhoodVisual clutter and stress reductionThe pause technique for impulse controlCapacity-based organization versus volume-basedDecluttering methods (TRANSFORM method, TRA framework)Experience-based shopping motivationFinancial coaching for womenHobby Lobby and Container Store shopping triggersTeaching children decision-making through constraintsDopamine-driven purchasing behaviorSeasonal decluttering and spring organizing
Companies
Target
Primary focus of discussion regarding impulse overspending triggers and retail experience design targeting women
Hobby Lobby
Referenced as a trigger store where the host avoids shopping to prevent impulse purchases and clutter accumulation
The Container Store
Mentioned as a trigger environment where organizing products tempt people to buy bins before decluttering
Amazon
Referenced alongside Target as a platform where overspending and impulse buying commonly occurs
Starbucks
Mentioned as part of the Target shopping experience ritual that enhances the emotional appeal of store visits
People
Emily McDermott
Guest expert discussing decluttering strategies, container concept, and emotional aspects of organizing homes and fin...
Shayna
Co-host leading discussion on budget systems, spending buckets, and intentional financial management
Vanessa
Co-host discussing budget systems, organizing money, and connecting decluttering to financial wellness
Dave Ramsey
Referenced as the training source for the hosts' financial coaching methodology and approach
Steph Gast
Mentioned as common connection through Podcast to Profit program where both Emily and hosts are students
Amy Slankersmith
Referenced as someone who avoids Target entirely due to it being a trigger store for overspending
Christine
Example of someone living in 1-bedroom NYC apartment managing possessions based on capacity rather than space
Quotes
"The pause gives you power. You can say like the pause gives you power, right? To be able to make a decision that is coming from a place of agency and choice rather than coming from a, well, this is what I've always done or this feels good in the moment."
Emily McDermottMid-episode
"If there's stuff in your closet or things in your home that are speaking to you or like mocking you, like why haven't you used me? Why haven't you worn me? You don't want things surrounding you that remind you of previous seasons of your life."
Emily McDermottEarly-episode
"Get your money organized and separate and you'll stop your overspending problem. And people really sometimes don't believe us, but I really believe that that's where I'm at and it's been there for a really long time."
VanessaMid-episode
"The definition of clutter is stuff that hasn't been put away. So we can't like, and you know, what we found is like, if it's not put away, it's probably gonna say this is not my home."
ShaynaMid-episode
"90% of the time they just have too much stuff. And based upon not my decision, not that like, oh, you have too much stuff and so I think that's bad. No, it's based upon their capacity to manage it."
Emily McDermottMid-episode
Full Transcript
I teach something and it's called the container concept. So really it is that having that artificial boundary around a certain item. And so that way when you're making the decision about how much I'm keeping and it can be kind of agonizing because you're like, well, I might need this someday or oh, I spent so much money or we have all of these stories that we tell ourselves in our brain as to why we wanna keep something. Instead of that, you're just looking at the boundary and you're like, okay, this is my bookshelf. I am going to keep enough books that fit on the bookshelf. They're not gonna be on the floor and on the table and on the nightstand and all the other places because I don't want to have to think about all the different places where the books are in this house. I just want to know that they are on the bookshelf. And so being able to then pick the boundary based upon your desire and capacity to manage that category is really important. Do you make good money but have nothing to show for it? Are you tired of living paycheck to paycheck? Do you have big dreams for your financial future? Do you want to get debt-free but you don't want to live on beans and rice? When you don't want to give up this pumpkin spice latte? Hey, it's okay if you don't already know how to budget or if you're using credit cards to get through the month. Hey, it's okay if you want to seem like you have your finances all together or you're not on the same page with your spouse when it comes to finances. We know what you're doing probably isn't working but guess what, you're in for the right place. We're Shayna and Vanessa. We're best friends, business partners and master financial coaches trained by Dave Ramsey. We've been in business since 2019 helping hundreds of amazing people like you create budgets, get out of debt, stop living paycheck to paycheck and know exactly what to do with their money. In this podcast, we'll share with you everything we know plus everything we're working on with our clients so that you have the best chance at reaching your financial goals. We want to help you take the guesswork out of your budget, improve your marriages and even bring your kids in on a conversation. We can help you no matter where you're at whether you're the single mom who's never had $500 in their savings account or the millionaire who's paid off for real estate work. And we're not gonna shy away from the tough love. We'll tell you what you need to hear and encourage you at the same time. This is the Financial Coaching for Women podcast. Emily, thank you so much for coming on Financial Coaching for Women. We are so excited to have you. You have a wonderful podcast called Mom's Overcoming Overwhelm where you help women declutter their homes, their heads and their hearts. So welcome to the show. Thank you guys so much for having me. I've been familiar with you guys because I'm also a Steph Gast student. And so just like super pumped to be talking about all things intentional spending and decluttering and all the things. So thanks for having me. We are excited to have you. You were just telling us, you know, one of the things that you do is in home decluttering and you're like completely booked because we all need the step out of our house. Like, you know, and I showed Vanessa I was like sneaking on your Instagram this morning and you had just a wonderful post. Like you have your closet is full. You have nothing to wear. Your schedule is full, but you feel lonely. Like all of this stuff, I feel like that resonates with people so much. So we're really excited to have you on. And like you can just help us all. Yeah, speak life for our audience. So yeah, so tell us a little bit. You just mentioned it. We met through Steph Gast through podcast to profit, but tell us a little bit about you, where you got started and then we're gonna jump in. We have a really juicy question for you to start, but let's start there. Okay, sure. So I'm a wife, a mom of two boys, eight and nine. They're very rambunctious and energetic. And it's really... Word. It's very positive. It's very positive. I know. I got into all of this actually through infertility. So when my husband and I were struggling to have children and I was just very overwhelmed in all senses of the word and then learned about decluttering and simplifying and minimalism and those types of things. And really starting with my home, but then looking at my schedule and having those emotional clutter things that come up too. And so really it's been over a decade now that I've been on this journey, love it so much, love serving women, helping them declutter all aspects of their lives. And just living with less and being able to enjoy the benefits of that has really served me in all seasons of my motherhood. And I'm just very grateful for the opportunity to share what I know with others. I love that. I love how you say that, you're not just decluttering their home, but you're decluttering their heads and their hearts as well. Can you speak to that a little bit? Because I love, it all coincides. And I think it's not just one area, it's all of it. So can you kind of speak to how it all works together? Yeah, well for women, and especially I worked with a lot of moms, there's a lot of identity shifts that go on as you are maybe having to leave behind some activities that you used to do or like the crafting projects that you don't have time for anymore or the dresses that hang in your closet that you used to wear when maybe you were working outside of the home or went on date nights and that kind of stuff. So there's a lot of emotional stuff that is wrapped into the things that we own. And a lot of times I always say, if there's stuff in your closet or things in your home that are speaking to you or like mocking you, like why haven't you used me? Why haven't you warned me? Why doesn't, you know, why can't you fit into me? You don't want things surrounding you that remind you of previous seasons of your life. You want it to support the life that you're living right now. And so that's why I think that it really impacts women and moms because we have so many identity shifts through our lives and so many different seasons that it just all comes back to, okay, how can the things that surround me really support my life right now, but then also speak life into the season I'm in and not make me feel bad about like what I'm going through right now. So, cause, you know, we already have enough stress and anxiety in our lives. We don't need our stuff making it worse. Yeah. Yeah, and I don't know if this speaks for everybody, but for me, I feel like it's your head is down and so you don't notice as much that all of these things have changed or a new identity is happening. And then you look up all of a sudden, you're like, oh, things are different. And so you do want your home and your life to reflect that. Now, here's the juicy question that I want to get to because Emily, our friend friends, our fund budget besties, they have some problems with Target, okay? Let's just put it that way. And I feel them- I feel a certain kind of way. And like, I don't have like time to go to Target. Yeah, if you just don't go. Like that's the only, that's my only like, and that's not better. That's not necessarily better, you guys, but that is, but I, but it's our fun friends. It's in their budget. It's in their Facebook group all the time. So tell us what, how can we help someone who says they feel like they have no self-control at Target? Yeah, that is a biggie. And I hear that a lot as well. And so I think that anytime that we recognize that we're feeling that out of control feeling in a certain environment, whatever that might be, we have to understand like, why are we going into the environment in the first place? So perhaps we go to Target because there are specialty things there that we can't get anywhere else. Like Cat and Jack fits our kids better than any other clothing type or something like that. But more likely it's not that Target has brand specific things that other places don't have, it's that we're going in for a certain experience and a certain feeling, or perhaps it might be that when we're shopping there, we feel like we can control part of our lives, whereas other parts of our lives feel completely out of control. And so we're like, oh, but I can go and purchase this thing at the something I can do that I have agency over, even though my kids are completely out of control and I can't get them to behave. So we have to understand kind of our motivations and our reasons. And if you know, okay, once I go in there, I don't have control because I'm just gonna go to like the bullseye section. I think that still exists, right? I never actually, it's where you get all like the stuff. Yeah. When you first come in, like all the seasonal stuff, and maybe that's like sort of the trigger or whatever the trigger might be. So the options could be, okay, I'm gonna experiment with just doing Target pickup for a couple of weeks and like see if that helps and how I feel about that. Or perhaps it's just like, I can't go there, it's a trigger store and I really have to find alternative. I have a friend, Amy Slankersmith, she's in the same space, but it was such a trigger for her that she literally does not go back in because it is just so hard for her. So really recognizing like, is Target special because of the product or is it because of the experience that they're kind of selling to us, especially as women? And can I recognize that for what it is? And perhaps I have control over my life in other ways rather than I can go in with my Starbucks in hand and like get this thing. Yeah, the experience I think that speaks to a lot of people. So we want to try to have that experience where it doesn't cause us to overspend and over. Really, it's not just the overspending with Target or Amazon. What are you doing with all of that stuff that you're buying? Because we know you don't have room for it, friend. We know you don't. Like you don't have room for it, you don't even know where it's gonna go. What are you gonna get rid of? And like that's a lot of decisions you don't wanna have to make. Well, and this reminds me of when I was, we had purchased our house that we're in now, the faster that I could get it decorated, that meant I would not go into Hobby Lobby anymore. Like I knew that if I could just put everything on the walls and get everything in place that I wanted it, like you know where, then I didn't have the desire to go decor shopping anymore because I had nowhere to put this stuff. And I think that was the part for me that was like, oh, you know, because my mom was like, you wanna go to Hobby Lobby? I'm like, no. She's like, why? And I'm like, because I will get distracted and I'll want to buy something and know that I have nowhere to put it. And then it just becomes clutter in my home. And I just can't. So I think that idea of just knowing like, like Shayna said, that's fine. Like we can go into these stores and want to buy things, but then what are you doing with it afterwards? So if you can maybe take that half a second and think about where is this going? How am I gonna use this? Am I actually, is this gonna make my life better? Is it gonna hinder me? Is it gonna be a nuisance? Like all that. Then you can really probably help your overspending problem. Well, and I, so when you said, why do we go to Target? Well, I'll tell you, because it's six miles from my daughter's volleyball practice. That's what I sometimes why I go now. And I would like to speak to the experiencing. That's not necessarily the worst thing ever. Like if you, like especially if I'm Sam's kids, right? And I wanna just go browse, that's fine. But I think part of the problem too, Emily, is it's like a everything store. And I don't know, like I came in, maybe I came in cause I needed socks. And now I'm here. Left with the whole basket full of stuff. And so I just really have to, if I want the experience, it doesn't mean I have to buy. Like I can just, like, you know the other thing? It's decluttered, it's organized by color. It's pretty, like that is part of the experience, which by the way, your house can look like if you let, if you let Emily help you. But, you know, like, you can have the experience maybe without buying all the things. Yeah. And it's so true, like I appreciate going to Target without children, but I do go with a list and I stick to the list because it is not a triggering store for me to have an impulse type of buy. And I think when we talk about the idea of impulse or whether you were talking about like compulsion or like those types of things, I see it as trying to lengthen the space between the stimulus and the response, okay? So the stimulus is that I'm in a certain environment or something happens to me or my kids do something and it triggers me or whatever. How am I lengthening that space between the stimulus and the response so that I can make a choice that's based upon my prefrontal cortex actually making the decision rather than kind of like, as we say, I say to my kids, the upstairs brain and the downstairs brain. The lower brain. Like the animalistic response like, oh, I'm going to do this, I'm going to get this and have like the dopamine hit and the whole thing rather than just taking that moment to understand like, so why, like why do I feel compelled to get this right now in this place? Is it environmental? Is it habitual? Like what's driving this actual behavior? And that pause, and I know you guys talk about this just with on the financial side, but that pause is everything. And it actually gives you power. You can say like the pause gives you power, right? To be able to make a decision that is coming from a place of agency and choice rather than coming from a, well, this is what I've always done or this feels good in the moment, even though I don't know where I'm going to put this thing when I get home. And that's really where it comes down, what it comes down to when we're talking about trying to break some of these habits around like impulse buying and impulse shopping. Yeah, and I think all of it, like we said, it all goes together and organizing is organizing. The way we teach our budget system, you might have a home outfit or a spending bucket or a savings bucket. You might have a kid spending your savings bucket. So if you can come up with that list, I think that that's a great option for people. Come up with that list. If it's a triggering place, like let, or if it's something that you're like, don't go so much, it's that simple. Go once a month, make it on purpose. Make it without your kids. Get your Starbucks. Have your spending budget. Have your list. Enjoy yourself. Yeah, make it an experience. Like make it your experience, but let's go once a month with that list intentionally. What we found Emily is, and I'm sure it's the same with everything else, if they have money separated and they know, okay, I have a hundred bucks that I set aside to get stuff for the house every month, right? And I'm going to my Starbucks and it's, I get to combine all of that. I have some, I have some boundaries with spending. I know I'm doing this because I enjoy being in target. Like nobody's like throwing oatmeal at me or whatever, I'm just kidding on what's happening. But you know, like I, like we could do it all on purpose. And maybe that will help the overspending Well, and I love how you said the power and the pause. Like, cause I think that that is, that's huge of figuring out why is this place triggering what is like, okay, I want to buy this thing, but, but for what, what reason? And just asking yourself, taking a minute to ask yourself some questions and pause and thinking about some stuff can really help you walk through that. I was trying to think of like, is there a store that's triggering for me? And I don't know, maybe it's just because we have our money under control so well and our savings buckets. I just, I don't know if that has ever been a problem for me because we've done this system for so long that, you know, we talk about this all the time, get your money organized and separate and you'll stop your overspending problem. And people really sometimes don't believe us, but I really believe that that's where I'm at and it's been there for a really long time. And I'm not trying to gloat or anything, but I'm just saying it works. Like being able to have a certain amount of money that you know that you're going to spend somewhere every so often, then allows you the control to know that you're not overspending for nonsense reasons. Yeah, and what I teach is more on the physical side, but it is freedom within the boundary. So you're going to pick the boundary, like perhaps that I'm going to have this part of my closet devoted towards dresses and within that boundary, I can go and I can pick some really cute outfits and it's fun and I'm not restrictive, but I have set a boundary for myself, not only base maybe financially, but then also how much time and energy I want to spend managing it, right? So having the freedom within the boundary means that you can enjoy that freedom side of it, but it's not feeling that out of control feeling because at least for me that out of control feeling, I felt it more not so much as spending with like parenting and relationships and some of those things. It's not a good feeling and especially afterwards, you know, if you buy certain things and then you kind of have that buyer's remorse or you say something and then you wish you hadn't said it and then you're feeling remorse and guilt about that, it's just really kind of a cycle because then you're feeling bad and so what are you going to do? You're going to, you know, maybe go back to Target and buy something else. So it's just, you know, I love that approach with having like those buckets and then that's the same as how I recommend you approach your space. All right, Budget Best Sees, it's time for surreal talk. You don't need another budget, you need a budget system. Our simplified budget system is what you've been looking for. It's going to allow you to be bougie on a budget. You'll be able to easily set up a system that runs automatically and shows you exactly where your money is going. And it's going to give you permission to spend. Everybody loves that. Yeah, it's straightforward, pretty and packed with walkthrough videos that break down the exact methods we use with our clients to get out of debt, set up a bills account, separate spending, build savings buckets and end the paycheck to paycheck feel. If you're new to budgeting, this is the perfect way to jump in. And if you're already a budget nerd like us, you're about to meet your new obsession. This is the upgrade to your finances that you need right now. Yeah, so head on over to budgetbestsees.com forward slash budget and grab yours. Now back to today's show. What do you say? Like, if there was a trigger store, I would say maybe we don't live by one but the container store, okay? We went in there and we're like, we love everything, but also we can't, I don't know what to do, there's too many things. So also like it's a good thing in that way. But what do you say to the person who's like, okay, it's time to organize, I'm so excited. But first, let me go get the bins and the pretty baskets and all the labels and I'm gonna go get all of that and then I'll be ready. What do you say to that person? Don't. Okay. Fun, check, hold on. Yeah, for many things in life, like the tool helps, but it doesn't actually solve the problem. Like I could wanna get my time under control and buy a planner and it's like the prettiest, best planner. But then if I never actually like use it or like be able to interact with it or have it be part of my life, like it's not gonna do anything. So what I find with the people that I work with, they say they are quote unquote disorganized when really 90% of the time they just have too much stuff, like flat out, they just have way too much stuff. And based upon not my decision, not that like, oh, you have too much stuff and so I think that's bad. No, it's based upon their capacity to manage it. If you are overwhelmed by the stuff in your home or if your kids are overwhelmed by the stuff in their home and their rooms or whatever, then you are not able to manage it. You are exceeding your capacity. So 90% of it is that I'd say about 5% is that we don't have specific purposes for spaces. And so they become catchalls. So if you have kind of like a bin, but you haven't talked about like the purpose of the bin, it's just gonna be a catchall for anything anyone wants to throw in there. And then the other 5% of the habits of actually having to tell your kids, like I say kids just because I'm sorry, that's my role, but saying to your spouse or partner or whoever, like this doesn't go here. I'm trying to keep this counter clean because of such and such, but I do have a space for you to put it. Or instead of putting your code on the floor, can we put it on the hook or just like. The floor, wait, that's how it's go? I know, it's so, it's crazy. Multi-purpose place for things. Yeah, I know, but yeah, so like mostly it's not that you need to go around and get the bin because the bin's not gonna solve your problem. We need to first worry about volume where the intentional spending comes in because if you're bringing in too much stuff, you can't manage the volume. And then also working on the purpose and your plan for where things go and why. And then the habits to support you being able to functionally like live your life without having clutter in the way. I love this, cause it's organizing clutter, like what is that gonna do? That you're just rearranging things at that point. Like there's no progress being made. So I love how you're talking about the volume of stuff that you have and just making sure that you love it. Like do you, what do you have? Do you actually love it and do you use it? Well, and like to your point, the definition of clutter is stuff that hasn't been put away. So we can't like, and you know, what we found is like, if it's not put away, it's probably gonna say this is not my home. And then also there's probably no room for it anywhere. Like, and let's just, you know, it's way easier to have an S this point to organize less stuff. Like let's go for that. And then, and then you're gonna, that's when you'll be able to have that target like home where everything feels like it has a nice spot and it's all pretty, like that could be you. But I think, yeah, the, the bends don't solve the problem. They actually make it worse in some cases. I think that's a great point. Okay. So do you have any, like maybe you have some tips or like a quick reset for someone who's thinking right now, like I have all this clutter, I'm not gonna go get the bends. Emily told me that's not the solution. And they feel behind like, what, what would you tell them? Yeah, sure. So I teach a method called the transform method, but because that's a long acronym, I'm just gonna focus on the first three, which is the low hanging fruit. Okay. So TRA, trash, anything that is like obvious trash, just do a trash sweep around your space. And this can also be, if you do have kids that are overwhelmed by cleaning their rooms, just like, where is the trash? Let's find the trash. Okay. R is relocate. Now this is important, especially for my friends that have ADHD or they get easily distracted because you're gonna find something in the space that doesn't belong there. And you're gonna go, oh, this belongs in the basement. Let me go downstairs and put it in the basement. No, don't do that. Don't do that. You're going to have just a bend for things that do not belong in that space. They belong somewhere else in your home, but just not where you're at. You're just gonna have a bend where you collect those things and at the end you'll put them away. And then A is anything you know that you wanna get rid of. This is like, you're not really making a hard decision here. It's the, oh, I meant to give that back to my sister-in-law. Oh, my kids grew out of this, you know, pair of snow pants. And so I'm gonna go ahead and donate those. Anything that's like the super easy decisions. And those three things generally, that's about like 30% of what is in that space. And that gives you like that quick win where you're like, oh, I can actually see like what's in here now and actually see what is supposed to stay in here and then be able to kind of get into those more, more not, I wouldn't say difficult, but where you actually have to start being like, oh, how much space do I wanna devote to this and then making decisions within that space? Well, and I think that those are really good tips for like you said, a quick reset, being able to immediately make progress. So that way you feel like you've accomplished something and then hopefully you can, if you do that in each one of your rooms, you can immediately feel like the relief from that. Yeah, and especially with surfaces, you know, it tends to be like trash or things that aren't where they're supposed to be. And just being able to clear those surfaces visually makes you feel like so much better, like, oh, I can actually breathe because there is a connection between visual clutter and then like stress and cortisol levels rising and that kind of stuff. Everybody feels better when it's not cluttered. Like everybody benefits from it. And I wanna move on, but I wanna say, God bless the people that can put stuff away and not get distracted. Like I think there are people out there that they could go in the basement and then they wouldn't be like, oh, the laundry in the basement, I have to do this now. Like I think they're there and God bless them. Not one of those people. So I love the idea of a bin or a laundry basket or whatever it is. Just like get the one thing, fix the one thing. Stay focused on the mission and the main mission. And I also love timers. I don't know if you're a fan of timers. Like it doesn't even matter. It's a timer and anything in my life. Like, okay, five minutes on this room, five minutes. Like if we can just do that and then, you know, the timer, you have to repeat it or whatever. But I think that helps me. And so I don't know if there's any other as we're coming into spring, people are really trying to like, what can I do? What, like, do I just throw everything away? Like, what can I do to get this quick feeling of, of like you said, everybody like, clean surfaces in nice looking rooms. What other tips or what other ideas come to mind? When I say that? Yeah. Well, I teach something and it's called the container concept. So really it is that having that artificial boundary around a certain item. And so that way, when you were making the decision about how much I'm keeping and it can be kind of agonizing because you're like, well, I might need this someday or oh, I spent so much money or we have all of these stories that we tell ourselves in our brain as to why we want to keep something. Instead of that, you're just looking at the boundary and you're like, okay, this is my bookshelf. I am going to keep enough books that fit on the bookshelf. They're not going to be on the floor and on the table and on the nightstand and all the other places because I don't want to have to think about all the different places where the books are in this house. I just want to know that they are on the bookshelf. And so being able to then pick the boundary based upon your desire and capacity to manage that category is really important because I just interviewed someone, she lives with a family of four in a one bedroom apartment in New York City. Okay, her name is Christine. She's amazing. So her decision with what she keeps is very different than if I lived in a 4,000 square foot home. However, our capacity to manage things may be very similar because we may be in very stressful seasons. We might have full-time jobs. You might have a lot of things going on. So just because we have the potential space doesn't mean that we make the decisions based upon that. We make it based upon our capacity to manage it and create an artificial boundary that aligns with that. So that would be my other kind of recommendation as you're deciding what to keep and what to let go of and not so much of all of the stories your brain tells you why you should hold on, but looking more at that capacity and that container idea. I think that's fantastic. I love the idea of like, what can you manage? Like what the capacity of what you can manage? Cause right now I can manage zero with the amount of what's going on in our lives with kids and sports and work and family and like all that. I can literally manage very little, but I know that like in this season of life and I'm okay with that, it's fine. But I love being able to recognize that and ask yourself that question. I think that that's really important. Yeah, and I think it's really good as far as kids, they also have certain amount that they can manage. And if they can't keep their room, they have more than they can manage. And obviously to your point, like we need to set up some systems or some containers that make it really easy for them. But if 20 Barbie dolls is too many, too many, maybe, like it doesn't, like you, if you can't manage it, then we need to help you. That's the way I would have told my kids that. But I also think for me, like being military, we moved all the time, like when you're talking about control at Target, the control I have is I can throw things away. Like I'm gonna throw everything away. And so we usually air too far on that side. Just like getting rid of everything because I feel like I don't know if I can manage or I don't know how much I can handle. So it's easier for me to handle nothing versus so much. So I think that that's a really good point. And we obviously have to find the right amount. But I will say, Emily, I recently got a much bigger bookshelf. Yes, it's lovely. I don't know, it's not, I haven't even had time to like actually fix it, but I don't know how if that's following the rules, like, cause I had so many books and then I just got a bigger bookshelf. But that's not what you're saying. That's not what you're saying, but that's what I did. You got a bookshelf for a different reason. You would naturally already had a ton of books, but yeah, it's different. It's different, it's different. I don't know, but you know, it's, anyway, so I think that the, like Vanessa said, the managing, what can you manage in this season? I love getting rid of all of the junk reasons. I think a container is such a black and white. Like this, like I was thinking when you said that, my workout tops, they fit in this drawer. That's how many workout tops you can have, Shayna. No more workout tops. Like that makes it so easy. It's not about when did I buy it, how long have I had it, how much did it cost? It's like, what bits in this drawer? Yeah, one final example I want to give is my kids, they are eight and nine and they have these shoe boxes that they call treasure boxes, air quotes. And it's all the junky stuff that they get from school and birthday parties and all the things. They've had these since they were about three years old. They're now eight and nine. They have kept the same boundary, the same limit since that time and they play a game any time that they have stuff coming in at the time of recording, we had Valentine's Day pretty recently and they play a game called love like maybe no. And you start with what you love and you fill it first, then what you like and it starts getting full and you have to make decisions. I don't say to them, oh, you said Valentine's Day and you got all of these goodies, that's great. Let me go get you a huge bin and we're gonna put everything in that huge bin and it's gonna take up half your room. How does that sound? No, we make decisions based upon that limit and that is what they know. And so now they're able to make those decisions more easily because I don't wanna manage huge bins of junk. So that's a good example, especially if you have kids because they do collect a lot of this kind of what I would call junky stuff, treasures in their mind. Memorabilia. But just not being very, yeah, this is the limit. If it fits, it fits. If it doesn't, you have to make a decision and they have to realize we have to make decisions. We have to make choices in life. We don't get just to do whatever we want all the time. We have a bedtime, we have a routine. There's other constraints and boundaries in their lives anyway. So this is just an example of that, but with their stuff. Yeah, my daughter has the same, she's had it for a while and so once a year is when she'll pull it out from under her bed and she'll go through it and she'll downsize. Oh, I wanted to keep this when I was five, but I'm almost 16 now and this no longer. Like I don't need it, right? And I think it's really good for them to like you said, to make those decisions and go through it and not just about your kids, but you as well. Like you need to have that being able to declutter your space and know that you're only keeping what you love and what makes you feel good and then the rest of it can go and that's okay. Oh yeah, love it. Okay, so we got into some fun things here today, Emily, but I know on your podcast that our fun budget messages will be able to find so many more. Like if they wanna go deeper, if they're in this mode, it's spring, I'm gonna declutter, I'm gonna get organized, I'm gonna reduce my overwhelm really in all areas of my life. So tell them about your podcast and tell them how else they can find you and work with you. Yeah, of course, thanks. So the podcast is Mom's Overcoming Overwhelm. So I have that on a weekly basis and I'm gonna give you just the URL for my Facebook group as we do decluttering challenges every other week. So like 15 minutes a day and then I give away like coffee gift cards and you don't have to go to the Starbucks in the Target, one of the Splendor ones, but we can have that in the show notes, but it's just my free Facebook group and yeah, and I would love to connect with people there. Yay, all right. Well, thank you again for coming on and giving us some tips and tricks and helping our listeners hopefully declutter their, not just their homes, but their minds and their hearts as well. And we will see you in that Facebook group, girl. Yeah, thanks so much, Sheena Vanessa. I really appreciate you having on. If you're tired of feeling like your finances are all over the place and you're ready for a simple, set it and forget it, wait a budget, we have something special for you. Watch our Automate Your Budget Masterclass at budgetbestos.com forward slash automate. We'll show you step by step how to finally organize your money, how to set up your accounts and put your budget on autopilot. So your bills, savings and spending run like hot words. Imagine less stress, more savings and the freedom to spend money without having to track every dollar or babysit your bank account. Go to budgetbestos.com forward slash automate to start today.